Negotiations broke down between the two sides in early December when the NHL offered a 10-year CBA with a five per cent variance between the players' highest and lowest yearly salaries. The NHLPA countered with an eight-year proposal with a 25 per cent variance in yearly salaries, the National Post reported.

Kane drew mixed reaction on Twitter. Hockey News writer Adam Proteau tweeted that this is "not the image that the NHLPA wants to project right now."

Others like user Chad Gardiner made light of the situation, joking that, "Evander Kane's cellphone plan must cost him a fortune."